Philippines: Inflation rises in January from December
Latest reading: Consumer prices rose 2.0% in annual terms in January, following a 1.8% increase in the previous month. January’s reading was the strongest since February 2025. As such, inflation inched up to the floor of the Central Bank’s 2.0–4.0% target range.
Relative to the previous month’s figures, January saw higher price pressures for clothing and footwear (+2.3% in annual terms vs +2.2% in December) and housing and utilities (+3.3% vs +2.5% in December). In contrast, there were reduced price pressures for food and non-alcoholic beverages (+1.1% vs +1.4% in December) and transport (-0.3% vs +0.3% in December).
Lastly, consumer prices were up 0.77% in January in seasonally adjusted month-on-month terms, following a 0.85% increase in the prior month.
Panelist insight: United Overseas Bank’s Julia Goh and Loke Siew Ting said:
“We expect inflation to continue trending higher through 2026 while remaining within the central bank’s medium-term target range. The balance of risks remains skewed to the upside, driven by potential electricity tariff adjustments, higher rice import duties, volatile commodity prices, and adverse weather conditions amid base effects.”